Category Archives: News

I just got home from seeing Jack & the Beanstalk and I want to make sure you don’t miss this terrific show! It’s wild and funny, bright and daring, and full of smiles — and it’s playing for only three more days (2 shows on Saturday) at Abrons Arts Center right down the street.

This is super multi-cultural holiday fun for the whole family, with a surprising hero, a moustache-twirling villain, and a show-stopping sing-along pie-in-the-face version of 12 Days of Christmas.

Added bonus: this show has deep roots in East River Coop — it’s written by cooperator Mat Fraser, directed by cooperator Julie Atlas Muz, produced by cooperator Michelle Stern, with scene design by cooperator Steven Hammel (plus contributions to the program art by cooperators Andrew Federman and David Flaherty.)

The coop’s annual report was released today showing a shortfall of $182,620, a big improvement from last year’s record $2.3 million deficit. That’s the second deficit in a row even after maintenance increases, with the budget for 2017-2018 showing yet another deficit looming.

General revenue increased $1.8 million from last year, after a large maintenance increase had a full year to play out.

Operating expenses actually decreased slightly, which is an accomplishment given the fact that real estate taxes alone rose nearly $1 million. (This year’s decrease is mainly due to the high cost of laundry room repairs in the previous fiscal year; nothing of that magnitude happened this year.)

Just in time for the holidays, someone has made available “I’m with Sheldon Silver” t-shirts at online store teespring.com. If you want one, you’ll need to act fast — merchandise is available to order only through Thursday.

The product page has a brief but accurate bio of the former pol: “Sheldon “Shelly” Silver is a former lawyer and Democratic Party politician from New York City, who rose to become the powerful Speaker of the New York State Assembly in 1994 until his arrest on federal corruption charges in 2015.”

With the election of new Democratic District Leaders in September, there’s also a new official Democratic club in the neighborhood called Grand Street Democrats. GSD is holding its first regular meeting on Monday, November 13. This meeting will be mainly focused on getting input from new members about what the club’s goals and priorities should be.

With city elections just finished, there’s still a lot to talk about. For one thing, we have a new State Senator, Brian Kavanagh, and a new member of City Council, Carlina Rivera, representing half of the East River buildings. There are hyper-local issues to organize around, including Grand Street traffic and development of nearby skyscrapers. And 2018 will be an important year to participate in Democratic campaigns beyond the lower east side.

Much as Friends of Corlears Hook Park has seen neighbors bonding together to revive the historic park in our backyard, our neighbors on the other end of Grand Street have been doing the same for Seward Park through the Seward Park Conservancy. They are raising money for an ambitious 2-part program of renovation:

Renewal of the plaza in front of the public library as a green space with public art and seating.

Restoration of the 1894 Schiff Fountain on Essex Street.

The Conservancy is holding a fundraiser next Thursday, October 26, 6:30 – 8:30 pm, at Manny Cantor Center.

You can’t miss the skyscraper going up on the waterfront right next to the Manhattan Bridge. And if developers have their way, you won’t be able to miss three more skyscrapers along the same short stretch of real estate just to our west.

Neighborhood groups have been pushing back on these developments since they were first announced. Elected officials have belatedly joined the fray. Tonight at 6:30 pm, our Community Board’s land use committee will be taking up a proposal for new zoning of the area, based on a zoning proposal first released in 2014.

If you are interested at all in the future development of our neighborhood, you are free to attend the meeting:

Right after you help spruce up Corlears Hook Park on Sunday, hop over the pedestrian bridge to the bandshell in East River Park for a benefit concert for Puerto Rico hurricane relief. See poster below for details.